No, they are not "louder."

They are "LOOOUUUDER>."

I'm considering that route. Noise factor not a concern since we have two birds and 3 dogs, to include a noisy conure and a talkative lab plus a couple of kids. We wouldn't be able to hear the frig over the din even if DH & I didn't already have some hearing loss. :)

I talked to the owner of the store where we bought our appliances recently. They had something new on the floor since our remodel and it started a conversation -- which somehow got to the commercial apliances. He said he had sold some to homeowners -- and NOT ONCE had they been happy with them. He said they had always come back and wound up being donated to a church or school or something.

Noise is a big issue, heat generation is another -- and lack of energy efficiency yet another. Then you get into insurance issues and safety, especially with the cooking appliances.

IMO, there are a lot of reasons to skip commercial refrigerators for a home.

They are loud-real loud. Commercial fridges are made to cool gallon-sized quantities of hot liquids (like stock and stews) down to safe temps within 4 hours. This requires moving lots and lots of cold around, meaning lots of big fans.
The shelving is sized for smaller restaurants, for things like salad dressings in gallons. A lot of wasted space for smaller home-sized items.
No lights, no door storage, no ice maker.
Potential problems with warranty and service-most commercial service companies do not carry insurance that allows them to work in homes.
Energy standards are much different than for home units, and it will use 2-3 times the electricity. Yes, it will be noticeable.
Harder to clean than home units
I could go on, but I won't.

All great reasons for me to look elsewhere. Two other units I am looking at are Kenmore Pro 48 inch and Electrolux Icon 42 inch. Any experience with these. I had the Viking picked out but have just read to many bad reviews to be comfortable with it.

Correcting some misinformation--

No lighting--Not true

Harder to clean--Not true.

Additional shelving very easily added.

cilantro

Some do have lights, but some don't.

They are harder to clean, in my experience. If nothing else, they tend to be deeper, and the mechanism is almost always at the top, meaning the interior goes almost to the floor. Remember, restaurant owners are not cleaning their refrigerators-the dish room staff generally does that.

And yes, you can add shelving, but that can be said about all refrigerators, and it is an additional cost.

cpovey, which model did you own?

Never owned one-I am a pro cook. I cannot see any at present, because where I work we only have walk-in fridges (3) and a walk-in freezer (not pleasant-ever).

Most commercial fridges don't have SS interiors, at least in my experience. They have multi-piece plastic panels, with channels connecting them at the corners.

Thanks for mentioning the wheels-I forget, per food code, all kitchen appliances must sit 6" or higher off the floor, with no shield in front of them, for ease of cleaning. Not an attractive feature for homes.

But all-in-all, I would forgo one just because of the noise.

I also was looking for a huge fridge, as I have four growing kids. What I like best is the Liebherr 48" which has 18 cubic feet of fridge and 6 cubic feet or freezer ( we have a chest freezer in the garage). It has an icemaker, but i don't think they have any with water dispensers. It looks like commercial but is made for homes. It does require two outlets as it is actually two side-by-side units with a trim kit that makes it into one. You can see it on eurostoves.com., along with several other models. (I'd go for the 60" if I had the $ and room!) They quoted what I thought was a decent price (compared to commercial) and flat rate shipping of $98.00. The rep on the phone said that customers she has spoken to love it- many have gone from Sub Zero to Liebherr. I was able to see one at our local builder's appliance center.
FWIW, I have planned a kitchen remodel for 5 years, but now we're moving to a house where NOT remodeling won't be an option! Honestly, It's always just been the appliances that I really want. Hurray!
cpovey- don't I remember you from the hundreds of hours I spent on the induction forum? I might actually get mine now!
Hope this helps you acountryfarm!

As someone who raised four growing kids, I'll tell you that 18+6 cubic feet is not "huge." I have a 25 cubic foot Kitchen Aid, and have ended up many times needing overflow space.

My own estimation of what is adequate with four kids is a 72" setup, with 24-25 cubic feet each of refrigerator and freezer.

lotsogirls,

One thing to be aware of when buying a Liebherr. They have attempted to sell in the USA 2 or 3 times in the past and have failed, leaving customers to try and get parts from Germany.

i'm a chef and would never want reach-ins meant for a restaurant in my house. the main reason is that they need to be taken apart and cleaned (compressors blown out) fairly often. with my dog, i think it'd even be more often than in the restaurant.

we take the grills off our reach ins weekly and go around and blow them out with one of the CO2 tanks we use for soda, blowing out all the dust. if you don't do it, the compressor gets clogged, can't get enough air, and the temps rise.

another reason is that these refrigerators go through a defrost cycle which causes them to drip water. they have condensate pans which catch the water and it usually evaporates, but sometimes, in more humid weather especially, it's just too much and suddenly there's a pool of water on the floor.

that's no big deal in a restaurant where you have floor drains and squeegees at the ready. in a home it would be very problematic.

I agree with both cpovey and edlakin - so I'm afraid that what we have here is a case of "too many cooks spoil the commercial refrigerator".

Solarpowered- you have a Kitchenaid with 25 CF of refrigerator? I'm interested.(what model is it?) Since there is a local dealer for Liebherr, I'll check with them about parts and service. Appreciate your post.

I certainly agree that 18 isn't huge, but I guess it's the best compromise I've found for space and price. ( and at least mine are all girls- they'll probably cut back in the teen years whereas boys.......)The Liebherr is also counter-depth, which usually means less interior space, so for the space occupied, there is more interior refrigerator room than many comps.
I have been disappointed when I look at product literature to find that those refrigerators that look so huge from the outside have less comparable interior space than one might guess.

Acountryfarm, I highly recommend that you look carefully at those measured capacities to compare. And note; consumer reports says that most of those manufacturer-quoted capacities did not measure up in their analyses.

Where we are going there is also a bar fridge next to the fridge space, we have a chest freezer, and will put a big water cooler in the adjacent mud room. So, yes, a compromise, but the best I've seen. (Of course, the reason I'm on the forum is to look for anything I might have missed)

Lotso,

Mine's a KSRS25Q. I bought it in 1992, so I doubt they still have any in stock. :)

My daughter ate as much as my sons... :)

Lots of good information for sure. We own restaurants so I do know enough about commercial, but since I don't have to hear them full time didn't know how it would be. The do definitely make some nicer commercial ones these days. I don't like the fact of no ice-maker, no door shelves and not energy efficient, but love the room. One that I was looking at had 46 cubic ft. Pretty descent size for the money. I have 11 children , 10 of whom are boys with the majority of those reaching teen hood in the next few years. I know about a lot of food and needing lots of space.
Just for everyone's info, I am looking at the Electrolux Icon right now. There is a floor model sale at a local dealer and I definitely like some of its features. I think I have decided against commercial, but there were definitely some advantages as well as the bad points. Thanks everyone.